No. PAR-25-324 · National Institutes of Health
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award Extension Request (Type 4 eSubmission Clinical Trial Optional)
- Award range
- Not specified
- Expected awards
- Not specified
- Application deadline
- Sep 7, 2028
- Posted
- Jan 6, 2025
- Last verified
- 8 days ago
At a glance
AI summaryThis notice funds a second two-year extension of an existing NCI MERIT award for current NCI Early Stage Investigator recipients. Eligible applicants are organizations administering an active parent award, and the candidate must hold an active NCI-funded R37 grant. The budget is limited to the committed direct costs in the final year of the initial project period, and no cost sharing is required. Applications may come from U.S. or foreign organizations, and the proposed work must stay within the original scope of the approved project.
AI-generated summary — verify against the announcement
What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) (R37) Award provides extended grant support to Early Stage Investigators (ESIs). By providing such an opportunity for longer term support to ESIs, the NCI intends to offer flexibility and opportunity for creativity and innovation and additional time to successfully launch their careers and to become more established before having to submit renewal applications (NOT-CA-18-037). The objective of the NCI's ESI MERIT Award is to allow eligible investigators the opportunity to obtain up to 7 years of support in two segments:
Who can apply
- City or township governments
- County governments
- For-profit organizations other than small businesses
- Independent school districts
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Others
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
- Small businesses
- Special district governments
- State governments
Program history
USASpending.govAssistance listing 93.393 · Cancer Cause and Prevention Research
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.393), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 167 | $596,996 | $422,899 – $685,984 |
| FY 2025 | 233 | $743,438 | $397,772 – $1,287,560 |
| FY 2024 | 331 | $1,232,605 | $403,858 – $1,928,145 |
| FY 2023 | 333 | $1,580,141 | $399,888 – $2,324,497 |
| FY 2022 | 371 | — | — |
| FY 2021 | 317 | — | — |
Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 1,752 — award counts are complete.
- HEALTH RESEARCH, INC. $8,975,418 · FY 2023
- REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE $7,529,016 · FY 2024
- WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES $7,411,948 · FY 2023
- VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER $7,120,874 · FY 2023
- REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA $6,827,635 · FY 2023
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 14, 2026
Assistance listing 93.394 · Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.394), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 137 | $595,012 | $414,585 – $662,610 |
| FY 2025 | 184 | $726,875 | $399,923 – $1,297,708 |
| FY 2024 | 215 | $1,129,641 | $414,953 – $1,862,878 |
| FY 2023 | 268 | $1,754,736 | $438,924 – $2,398,100 |
| FY 2022 | 277 | $2,036,627 | $596,368 – $3,077,027 |
| FY 2021 | 269 | — | — |
Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 1,350 — award counts are complete.
- TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE $8,347,015 · FY 2022
- BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE $6,630,183 · FY 2022
- THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY $6,618,085 · FY 2022
- SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH $6,181,895 · FY 2022
- OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY $5,771,926 · FY 2022
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 14, 2026
Assistance listing 93.395 · Cancer Treatment Research
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.395), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 316 | $565,152 | $413,691 – $664,926 |
| FY 2025 | 435 | $677,787 | $402,400 – $1,233,798 |
| FY 2024 | 488 | $1,140,586 | $408,966 – $1,897,871 |
| FY 2023 | 522 | — | — |
| FY 2022 | 519 | — | — |
| FY 2021 | 517 | — | — |
Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 2,797 — award counts are complete.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER $6,902,371 · FY 2024
- VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY $5,325,147 · FY 2024
- MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY $4,597,865 · FY 2024
- PRIVO TECHNOLOGIES, INC. $4,499,992 · FY 2024
- FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER $4,234,248 · FY 2025
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 18, 2026
Assistance listing 93.396 · Cancer Biology Research
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.396), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 289 | $565,909 | $400,614 – $660,808 |
| FY 2025 | 261 | $975,084 | $432,098 – $1,309,674 |
| FY 2024 | 333 | $1,287,771 | $456,103 – $1,958,901 |
| FY 2023 | 383 | $1,541,433 | $747,000 – $2,025,032 |
| FY 2022 | 401 | — | — |
| FY 2021 | 396 | — | — |
Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 2,063 — award counts are complete.
- RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY $11,640,000 · FY 2024
- TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE $7,902,036 · FY 2023
- SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE $6,972,263 · FY 2024
- THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK $5,522,226 · FY 2024
- WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY $5,035,979 · FY 2024
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 22, 2026
Assistance listing 93.397 · Cancer Centers Support Grants
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.397), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 5 | $2,194,434 | $1,903,195 – $2,433,959 |
| FY 2025 | 10 | $2,537,207 | $2,375,699 – $4,459,824 |
| FY 2024 | 7 | $2,990,890 | $2,679,270 – $4,459,717 |
| FY 2023 | 37 | $5,032,714 | $3,565,803 – $6,579,500 |
| FY 2022 | 28 | $7,662,829 | $6,469,855 – $8,676,165 |
| FY 2021 | 19 | $8,558,061 | $1,477,302 – $10,594,524 |
- CORIELL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, INC. $11,903,446 · FY 2021
- DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE, INC. $11,406,521 · FY 2022
- THE WISTAR INSTITUTE OF ANATOMY AND BIOLOGY $11,313,382 · FY 2021
- SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH $10,766,802 · FY 2021
- INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY $10,596,037 · FY 2022
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 22, 2026
Assistance listing 93.399 · Cancer Control
Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (93.399), not just this notice.
| Fiscal year | Awards | Median award | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 (so far) | 0 | — | — |
| FY 2025 | 1 | $2,490,206 | $2,490,206 – $2,490,206 |
| FY 2024 | 13 | $3,165,783 | $804,361 – $3,227,950 |
| FY 2023 | 7 | $1,121,797 | $947,583 – $1,353,065 |
| FY 2022 | 14 | $4,573,965 | $2,523,875 – $6,154,995 |
| FY 2021 | 5 | $3,186,801 | $2,957,140 – $3,199,301 |
- UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE $16,730,455 · FY 2021
- VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITY $8,183,001 · FY 2022
- FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER $7,696,898 · FY 2022
- THE INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH $6,471,989 · FY 2022
- WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY $4,655,326 · FY 2022
Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 22, 2026